300 
THE TRDFIO^ A^eiRltS^JLTURlST- [November 2, 1891. 
" waddlies" the results o£ palmira fruits carried 
away by elephants, monkeys, bears and other 
animals. If suoh bathe case, all that the forest 
oflBoers have to do, to produce largo expanses of 
palmiras, is to clear away the forest trees, a 
large proportion of which are not in the region we 
are referring to, of mueh value for timber purpoees, 
For good palmira timber for housebuilding pur- 
poses, there v?ill be ever a demand, locally and 
in India. The " waddlies" scattered in the nor- 
thern jungles ought, therefore, to be cherished and 
where necessary added to, so that forests of this 
fine and useful palm may be ultimately available 
for management by the Forest Department, or for sale 
or lease to natives. The matter is surely well 
worthy of serious consideration. 
ME. ROGIYUE'S MISSION AND THE 
MOSCOW EXHIBITION; CEYLON AND 
IKDIAN VS. CHINA TEAS. 
London, Sept. lltli. 
No news having reached the Ceylon Association 
in London as to Mr. Eogivue's proceedings, a 
call was paid by me in another quarter in the 
hope of obtaining the information respecting the 
success or otherwise of his venture at the Moscow 
Exhibition in which your colonists have no in- 
considerable stake. But although much was men- 
tioned to me of a satisfactory character relating 
to the prosperity of Mr. Bogivue's general under- 
taking, it was told me that the London Agency 
of that gentlemen had not to date heard anything 
as to what had been done at the Exhibition at 
Moscow. No doubt Mr. Eogivue is waiting till 
the Exhibition there finally closes before venturing 
upon any statement as to what has been accom- 
plished at it. But as regards the general trading 
carried on by your representative in Russia, this 
would appear from all accounts to be possessed 
of a most satisfactory character, and the weight 
of the consignments made from London in response 
to his demands have gone far towards determining 
this. We read so little now in the papers as to 
what is doing at the French Exhibition in Moscow, 
that we cannot even learn if the attendance at 
it haB at ell approached the estimate of this formed 
when the idea was first started. 
From the best authorities we hear that Mr. 
Rogivue is so satisfied with the results to his 
tentative work that he is about to take a partner, 
in order to enable him to further extend his 
business. This fact would seem to augur well 
for the increase of the Russian trade in Ceylon 
tea; though Mr; Rogivue has himself stated that 
it has been very uphill work so far. The fact 
must, however, always be borne in mind that that 
gentleman is of a most sanguine temperament, and 
that this should cause all his reports to be received 
with some degree of caution. Indeed those who 
are best acquainted with him here tell me that 
over-sanguineness is Mr. Rogivue's only fault. 
A good deal has been written to the papers 
lately as regards the reasons for the continued 
supersession by Indian and Ceylon tea of the 
China varieties, the returns continuing to show a 
large diminution in the import of the last for 
the past halt-year. The North Br ithh Dally Hail ot 
September 4th contained the following paragrnph; — 
TjiA — China, India and Cevlon. — Consul Gardiuer 
thus summarises tlio advautages of the Indian and 
Ceylon tea growers : — 1. — Command of capital. In 
India and Ceylon tea estates arc generally owned by 
companies which can afford to carry on business at 
a loss of time, can purchase expensive machinery and 
plant, au^ ctvu spcud large mnw pf wvncy pn experi- 
ments and on iuvcstigatiug the tastes and require- 
ments of purchaser. 2.— The Indian tea grower can 
boiTow money at from 4 to 5 per cent, while the 
Chinese tea grower has to pay from 20 to 30per cent. 
?>■ — In India and Ceylon the laud tax is lighter than in 
China, and there is absolutely no likin, octroi, or export 
duty to pay. In China the likin and export duty 
often amount to 30 per cent of the selling price of 
the tea abroad, and to 100 per cent of the prime 
cost of its production in China. 4.— Labour is cheaper 
in India than in China. 5. — The tea ))lauters in India 
and Ceylon have the necessary knowledge of chemistry 
and chemical agriculture at their command to pro- 
duce in the tea l^y cultivation and manufactui'e the 
qualities required hy the piuchasers, and can vary 
them with the ^•arying wants of different countries 
and districts. 6.— Better acquaintance with the tastes 
and requirements of purchasers, and intimacv with 
the retail dealers and theu' mode of conducting 
business. 
Consul Gardicer's name seems to bo unknown 
to the Ceylon men with whom the foregoing article 
has b9en discussed by me, and it is evident from 
that article that he is without acquaintance with 
some, at least, of the points which he touches 
upon. Thus, he speaks of a laud tax in Ceylon, 
being ignorant evidently that sueh a tax does not, 
as yet at all events, exist in Oeylon. At the 
same time no doubt many of the facts Consul 
Gardiner has stated are correct and operative to- 
wards the conclusions he has made public. But 
there is another very vital condition upon which 
he has kept silence, and this has been given 
prominent notice in the Engineer which lately 
published an editorial dealing with the advantage 
of curing tea by machinery. The argument of 
this latter paper is that in China the tea is not 
only contaminated by contact with both the hands 
and feet of the natives, but that these prepare 
it in such small lots that it does not get into 
the possession of the native dealers until 
much of its strength and aroma has been lost 
by exposure. In Ceylon and India, the article 
points out, contact with the human hand closes 
with the plucking of the leaf. Machinery then 
enables a quantity sufficient to constitute a ship- 
ment to be turned out quickly which is packed 
into the boxes in a warm state as it finally leaves 
the macinery, and the strength and aroma are 
thus both preserved. This fact, the Engineer con- 
tends, may well account for the superiority in 
strength assigned to the teas of India and Ceylon aa 
compared with those of China. 
If we combine the causes assigned by Consul 
Gardiner with those stated by the Enyineer, we 
doubtless obtain all those which have induced the 
British public to show the preference it has done 
for the teas exported by yourselves as well as 
for those grown in India over those of Chinese 
growth. The chemistry of tea-growing is, as we 
have learned of late from what Mr. Hughes has 
told us, still a knowledge too much in its infancy 
to have had the strong effect assigned to it by 
Consul Gardiner, That much as to this remains 
to be ascertained is certain, and the sooner the 
further experiments proposed by Mr. Hughes are 
carried out, the better it will be for all Ceylon tea 
planters. — London Cor. 
WORLD'S FAIR MINING NOTES. 
One of the greatest attractions of the mines de- 
partment of the Exposition will be the remarkable 
collection of minerals owned by Professor A. E. 
Foote, of Philadelphia. He has the finest private 
collection in the world. It is a complete history 
of mineralogy, and it will be so arranged at the Ex- 
position that the mineralogy of the States can be 
shown. This cpHectipu waa shown at the Ceuteu- 
